Best Laid Plans
by Beckintime
Summary: Hermione is afraid of flying, she has to get over it to prove herself but will she be able to do it?


**A/N: Here is Beckintime's submission for the bonus round (Chapter 1 of Ravenclaw's submission)**  
 **House: Ravenclaw**  
 **Category: Chapter 1 of Bonus Round**  
 **Prompt: Hermione Granger**

 **Word count: 1039**

I heard Ron cry, "that's clearly a foul!" to the left of me as I watched as both Crabbe and Goyle launched their beater clubs at Harry as he reached out ahead, the small golden glint of the snitch visible between his fingers.

The clubs met their mark, and Ron and I shouted protests in unison as Harry fell from his broom and tumbled to the ground below.

The stadium fell into silence. I leaned forward over the bannister eager to see what had happened.

Harry was lying flat on his back, motionless.

I started pushing my way through the crowd, trying to access the stairs of the stadium, Ron following behind me muttering, "I'm going to kill them Hermione, the whole lot of those snaky bastards."

It was then that I saw, over the heads of my fellow students, Harry raised his hand to the sky victoriously, the golden snitch in his grasp.

"The Snitch! He caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins!" could be heard from Lee Jordan over the magically enhanced speakers as cheering erupted from the Gryffindor crowd, many other students from other houses joining in too. Harry was no longer visible through the swarm of people that crowded onto the pitch.

Coming from the library, down the winding steps to potions class the next day, I saw

Draco Malfoy, along with his ever-present lackeys Crabbe and Goyle in tow, engaging both Harry and Ron in what looked like a heated discussion, as evidenced by the intense glaring and raised voices.

"What's going on here?" I asked as I arrived, my gaze switching between the familiar faces of my friends and the blonde-haired boy,who, admittedly, was very intriguing. How could someone so cruel be also so attractive?

Wait. What?

Did I just say Draco Malfoy was attractive? Eurg.

"Don't get involved, Granger," Draco sneered.

"Don't speak to her like that!" protested Harry. "We won fair and square yesterday, now deal with it."

"You fell off your broom. That doesn't count! It was more luck than skill!" argued Draco.

"Well, if your cronies hadn't lobbed their bloody clubs at him, you'd have seen Harry's skill," Ron interjected.

Inside, I could feel the rage start to build at the infuriating Slytherin boy in front of me. How dare he of all people accuse my friends of cheating? "Besides, if you had any skill, it would've been you that saw the snitch first, not Harry," I said, gritting my teeth slightly.

I saw Draco stiffen slightly and instantly felt bad. However, he seemed to recover, before retorting, "Think you could do much better, Mudblood?" It was my turn to stiffen as he insulted my lineage. He smirked at me; you could have almost described it as charming had it not been for the barbed words underneath "Go on then, use Potter's broom and fly up to the tallest goal," he drawled.

I paused, mouth agape, a counter stuck on the end of my tongue. The light in Draco's eyes seemed to dance with malice; he knew he had won. "Or are you too scared?"

"Hermione, No!" I heard mummy call as I floated up into the air. She jumped for me, fingers grazing the bottom of my shoe. Meanwhile, I just giggled.

"Mummy! Look I'm flying!" All I could do was laugh as I went higher and higher. My mother used to read me stories of fairies as she tucked me into bed at night, and I loved to imagine I was one, flying around in every direction, causing mischief. I had been trying all afternoon to fly, eyes shut in concentration, focussing on what it must be like to have wings, imagining myself as a fairy. I felt the air rush around me, as if I had my own pair of wings. I had finally achieved my (along with every other seven year old's) dream!

I was flying like a fairy!

I could see everything up here; from the play park, where daddy pushed me on the swing, to Mrs Smith's prized Orchids a few gardens down.

"Hermione, please, come down now!" Mummy called from below.

"Okay," I muttered, slightly disappointed I couldn't continue to rise and join the fairies in their floating kingdoms in the clouds.

All of a sudden, dread filled me. I realised I had been concentrating so long on trying to float up, I hadn't put any thought into how I could float down.

"Mummy! Help me! I don't think I can!" I screamed, starting to panic, and about 10 foot below my mum did too, her cries of horror attracting the attention of daddy, who was inside the house.

"Daddy! Please help me!" I cried. I was now about 20 foot up. (It was amazing how my screams hadn't attracted the attention of our neighbours.) Sobs racked my chest, my panic was raw in my throat, and my breathing started to become laboured. It was then I realised I stopped rising, and as if all the magic had ebbed from me, I plummeted to the grass below, like a stone.

My flashback changed then from hurtling towards the ground to lying in a hospital bed, the doctor repeating the lists of injuries I had sustained from the fall.

"Two broken ribs, a broken arm, and a twisted ankle. That's certainly got to have hurt. How did you do it again?" the young doctor inquired.

My father interjected before I could say anything. "She fell off a climbing frame, silly girl," he said smiling slightly to cover up the lie but nonetheless glad the injury wasn't any worse.

The young doctor grinned. "Kids, eh? They bounce back, though; you'll be okay soon little one," he said, ruffling my hair slightly.

I wasn't, though. I hated flying and hadn't wanted to be up high on my own since.

The towers at school were okay because they had a floor, but when I first came to Hogwarts, even the moving staircases freaked me out for a bit.

I realised my mouth was still agape. I quickly stuttered, "I…I just remembered, I left something in the library." Then I ran off, back up the steps, my face reddening in embarrassment as I heard the cruel laughter of Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle behind me.


End file.
